Entries in the 'Society' Category

The World Is On The Brink Of A Monetary Collapse

betNews Report (from CommodityOnline): World is hit by hyperinflation & monetary collapse” The most probable sequence of events resulting in hyperinflation and monetary collapse is as follows:

1. A broad based shortage of goods that are thought essential develops and this is not relieved in time to satisfy demand.

2. Consumers trying to acquire essential goods that they believe are in short supply become fearful and are prepared to pay increasingly higher prices and stockpile these goods further increasing shortages and accelerating prices as a sellers market develops.

3. Prices rise for essential goods in short supply as an increasing proportion of the money supply circulates in these goods, also with increasing velocity and as most of these goods are consumables with high turnover upward re pricing quickly occurs.

4. The proportion of available money circulating in goods that are perceived as essential increases and the demand for less essential goods diminishes i.e essentials become disproportionately more expensive than the norm against non essential goods displacing money towards the goods most in demand further fueling inflation,

5. The shortage of essential goods accelerates as manufacturers increasingly focus on short term survival, longer term risk is avoided and investment in the production cycle is reduced accelerating 1.

6. The normal balance of demand for all goods increasingly prefers those goods required to satisfy primary needs and people engaged in making and supplying less immediately essential or non essential goods become unemployed who then pressures governments accelerating condition 9.

7. Eventually goods not immediately required but non the less essential are needed and rapidly increase in price as they also become in short supply.

8. Consumers with least money first find it increasingly difficult to secure essential goods, become frightened and are forced to allocate greater proportions of their money on essential goods and demand greater income.

9. The demand for money forced by need and fear becomes irresistible so governments feel insecure and provide increasing amounts of fiat new money.

10. Consumers first to spend the new money see some value but soon as this new money is distributed and its value is lost, the velocity of money also accelerates as people rapidly exchange money for goods, wealth is seen as best protected when stored as goods rather than cash further increasing price and reinforcing condition 9.

My Comment: This is a perfectly logical scenario, although it may drag out over years and hence seem unrealistic to us right now. But more importantly, the solution to the economic crisis must be a moral one, because it’s the next level of human development. The solution must be fundamentally different, bringing us to the new, following level.

The universal interdependence (the global nature of our “small village”) shows us that in order to come out of the crisis, we must change our current relationships to the opposite ones. We have always sought to separate from one another, but today, in order to survive, we will have to start caring for one another. We cannot wait for instructions to come from the authorities or the government. It is man who must change (correct himself), and hence, it’s up to him to create this change (via education).

The new social relationships of mutual care will gradually produce a new system of government – a council of people who are great with respect to their vision of Nature and Society (the Creator).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Can We Avoid A Recession?
Laitman.com Post: The Forthcoming Stages Until the End of the Crisis, Explained by Economists and by Kabbalah

People Now Realize That The American Economy Was Ruined By Greed

Why Do We See Such a Diverse World?News Report (from BBC News): …many executives couldn’t resist the excruciatingly seductive call of easy money… And so, in America, with the temptation of the many renderings of mortgage-related profits before them, and with no discernible punishment in sight (indeed, with only praise from boards, analysts, and shareholders) it was a simple matter to take what was there and ignore the longer term consequences… As a nation, we seem to have forgotten that the most important goals take time to accomplish, and that lacking this perspective we succumb to what amounts to bribery and pandering…

Let’s hope the new administration can alter our frame of reference and lead us in a more distant direction… Showcasing the lost virtues of patience and persistence couldn’t hurt our national ethic.”

My Comment: This shows that people are already making the correct conclusions about the reason for the crisis. However, for now the conclusions are still made on the corporeal level, without understanding the true reason for the crisis: to force man to rise above egoism and attain the goal set by Nature – similarity to Nature/the Creator (the quality of bestowal and love). In addition, people are still far from understanding the needed changes in upbringing, the society, industry, the economy and finances. Nevertheless, this shows how quickly suffering “straightens people out.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Suffering Makes Us Start Thinking Correctly
Laitman.com Post: The Reason for Our Suffering, and the Alternative Path
Laitman.com Post: Our Future Security Depends on the Dissemination of the Wisdom of Kabbalah

The Financial Crisis Disrupts Family Stability

Why Does Everyone Hate Israel?News Report (from Gizmag): Remarkable new research from the U.K. Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) concludes that for every unexpected 10% fall in housing prices, an extra 5% of couples will split up. … The study concludes that unexpected downturns in the housing market can damage family stability…

My Comment: Indeed, the crisis is multifaceted: it is a crisis of science, culture, the family structure, upbringing, society, depression, drug abuse, ecology, and climate. Moreover, all of its components influence each other.

Hence, all the different consequences of the crisis are yet to become revealed this year. Of course, it seems to us that the financial crisis is the most important one. But it will bring along all the other ones, until we realize that there is only one crisis – the crisis of our relationships with each another.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Wishes for the New Year – 2009

Secret Brotherhoods And Red Strings Are Just A Distraction

Dr. Michael LaitmanThree questions I received on various spiritual practices:

Question: These days we hear many things about secret societies and their influence in our society – societies like the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians and the Freemasons. What does Kabbalah say about these brotherhoods? Are their teachings in accordance with Kabbalah? Are they a good thing to join? Or are they agents who only follow their ego ?

My Answer: I think of them as childish games. All of the secrecy is just for blowing up their importance.

There is a possibility to influence the Creator and thus to govern the world, and it is available to everyone – to the degree one becomes corrected so as to be good toward everyone.

Question: Is there only one school of Kabbalah or several?

My Answer: There are other groups that study Kabbalah. You can probably find them on the Internet.

Question: I am interested in the issue about the red strings. Some say that they have no relation to Kabbalah. Others say that they protect people from “the evil eye.” I understand that this could be explained as a psychological effect, but I heard that the red strings give one a connection with protective energy (due to being produced in a special ritual setting).

My Answer: They are no more than a psychological effect. Kabbalah forbids this because it is a deceit and distracts a person from the goal for which he and this world were created.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Illuminati’s Coming to Get You… NOT!
Laitman.com Post: Practical Kabbalah Has No Use for Red Strings
Kabbalah Today Article –  Kabbalah: User Manual
The Kabbalah Experience: Chapter 7 – “Beliefs, Mysticism and The Supernatural”

Kabbalah On Martial Arts, Cancer, The Star Of David, And More

Aliens Are a Trick of the ImaginationQuestions I received on Kabbalah’s view of this world:

Question: Would it be fair to say that Kabbalists are the Creator’s agents in this world?

My Answer: This wouldn’t be very modest, but that’s correct!

Question: Does Bnei Baruch plan on creating a virtual society?

My Answer: That is exactly what Bnei Baruch is doing: correcting ourselves and educating the world.

Question: I am Catholic. Do I need to change my religion in order to study Kabbalah?

My Answer: No.

Question: Does wearing the Star of David around your neck carry any significance?

My Answer: None that’s spiritual.

Question: What should be done if a person has cancer, suffers from terrible pains, and wants to commit suicide?

My Answer: They should receive medication.

Question: What is your opinion on self-defense and martial art? Does a person have a right to protect himself against violence? And do nations have the same right – i.e., are there “just wars?”

My Answer: Yes.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah for Everybody
Laitman.com Post: The Kabbalistic Meaning of the Star of David, and Why We Should Respect Sports Stadiums
Laitman.com Post: What Do a Healthy Mind and Body Have to Do With Kabbalah?
About Bnei Baruch
Fighting Terror the Right Way

The “Beautiful” Cleopatra

kleopatraNews Report (from The Telegraph): Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren did their best but according to a leading Egyptologist, they came nowhere near to an accurate portrayal of ancient queen Cleopatra.

Using images from ancient artifacts including a ring dating from Cleopatra’s reign 2,000 years ago, Cambridge University’s Sally Ann Ashton has pieced together an entirely different image that shows her as a mixed race beauty. …the monarch came to power at the tender age of 18… Cleopatra was a temptress who ruined two generals of Rome – Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

My Comment: I think the men will agree with me when I say that this is a perfect example of our subjective perception of reality. Reshimot (informational genes) constantly change inside us and they determine our desires. This, along with the influence of the society’s Reshimot, determines our likes and dislikes. As a result, even this will seem like a “Cleopatra.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The World Is the Perception Inside Our Desires
Laitman.com Post: History Is the Unraveling of Reshimot Inside Us
The Kabbalah Experience: Chapter 5 – “The Desire for Pleasure: Discovery and Correction”

The Forthcoming Stages Until The End Of The Crisis, Explained By Economists And By Kabbalah

Kabbalah's Model of a New WorldA question I received: What stages will we have to go through to get to the end of the crisis?

My Answer:
1. Economists and manufacturers believe that apparently, the crisis is necessary in order to “change” our world: to rid us of excess manufacturing facilities, to shift to new technologies and means of production, to raise the consumers’ qualification when it comes to assimilating the newest forms of production and services. This is why the crisis has to go through the stages that it does: restriction of production, optimization of business, implementation of new technologies, elimination of physically and morally outdated products, cautious growth and assimilation of new products.

2. Kabbalah says that the crisis will change our society: every person will assume his objective, rational place in the integral human society. This will happen by virtue of one’s desire to receive what one needs and to give everything that one can. One will enjoy the well-being of the society and the revelation of the Upper Source of fulfillment, the Creator, which is revealed through “love for one’s neighbor.” The path can be long and difficult, one of wars and famine (this is the natural egoistic development), or it can be quick and pleasant, by means of revealing the Creator and His plan, and by coming closer to Him (the Kabbalistic development).

See the article “Freedom of Will” and others.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam Describes the Cause of Suffering and Crises In the World
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam Describes the Society of the Future
Laitman.com Post: The Possibilities of Our Development – War or a Peaceful Transition

Our Future Security Depends On The Dissemination Of The Wisdom Of Kabbalah

futureThree questions I received on the future of the world:

Question: You mentioned that the governing of the world must change to that of love your friend as yourself, one man with one heart. Why don’t you and your group start with a working model of such a system to serve as a beacon and inspiration for the rest? It would be easier to start on a smaller scale rather than a big one.

My Answer: Due to the current time and circumstances, we cannot close ourselves off but must devote all our energy to disseminating Kabbalah in the world, as it is the means of preventing the world from falling into the Third World War.

Question: What do you mean when you say that we are now entering Biblical times?

My Answer: I meant that we have to start observing the Biblical principle, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Question: In reference to your post, Unity for the Right Purpose Can Stabilize the Banking System, I hope you are not speaking of a new world order, one government, one bank, one currency, and everyone being monitored with chips implanted in their bodies.

My Answer: All of humanity is an integral (global) organism. Hence, everyone must submit to one law of total interaction on all levels of our activity. This means, as Baal HaSulam writes in the article, “The Last Generation,” that eventually there will be one spiritual government, which will regulate all the activities of the world’s inhabitants.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam Describes the Conditions of Life in a Globalized World
Laitman.com Post: The Possibilities of Our Development – War or a Peaceful Transition
From Chaos to Harmony: “The Evolution of the Correction Method”
Article: “Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”

Utopian Attempts Are Doomed To Fail

whimNews Report (from The Economist): The cimarrón is one of at least ten alternative currencies in different parts of Venezuela. … But none of these tokens can be exchanged for the bolívar, the country’s legal currency. Their use is limited to “prosumers” – you have to bring something to sell before you can actually buy anything with them. … ‘It’s magic,’ says Pablo Mayayo, an Argentinian who is advising Venezuelans on these schemes. ‘When you take away money… people relate to each other in a different way, by co-operating, not competing.’”

My Comment: Kabbalah states that progress is programmed by nature and determined by the egoism that continuously grows in us. Our egoism cannot be stopped, but it can be corrected. Then, instead of using it to harm others or for illusory self-benefit, we will use it to benefit everyone. This is the principle of a closed system, and today we are revealing that human society is just such a system.

Therefore, any movement backwards, our attempts to reverse history, are opposite to nature and will inevitably bring about an even greater crisis.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Is the Global Market About to Turn Into a Global Flea Market?
Laitman.com Post: How to Overcome the Global Crisis
Laitman.com Post: We Must Cure the Crisis by Any Means Possible
Kabbalah Today Article: Rising Above the Ego to a New Level of Consciousness
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Eradicating Egoism”
Introduction to the Book of Zohar: “Items 60-71”

Forecast For 2009: Let’s Hope For A Moral Revolution

moralNews Report (translated from mchs.gov.ru): Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations forecasts that in 2009 the number of natural disasters in Russia will increase by more than a third. There will be up to 250 emergency situations related to natural disasters, including flooding in Siberia and the Far East, fires resulting from a snowless winter and abnormal temperatures (particularly in forests), strong winds, storms, gales, hurricanes, very heavy precipitation, hail, thunderstorms and so forth. There is an increased likelihood of earthquakes and tsunamis in the coastal areas. Also set to increase are gas explosions and breakdowns of vital communications systems, and collapse of buildings and other structures. There is a high likelihood that epidemics and infections will break out.

My Comment: All of this can be avoided if we immediately take control of the entertainment and commercial sectors of the mass media, in order to purposefully educate the population on proper conduct in the new global world. However, this should be done without restricting the informational and communications sectors of the mass media. People should be taught what it means to be integrally connected and absolutely dependent on everyone. This should be the Ministry’s primary tactic and strategy!

In response to this act, society will immediately feel a reduction in Nature’s pressure, both the inner pressure on every individual and society as a whole, as well as the external pressure. Balance with Nature will bring about positive phenomena on all levels of our lives. We will then witness a simple, calm Moral Revolution that is so necessary!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Creator Will Force Us to Unite
Laitman.com Post: Specific, Practical Measures to Combat the Crisis
Kabbalah Today Article: Ecology and Us
Kabbalahblog Post: VIDEO – Transforming Ourselves, Transforming the World
Brochure: “Lecture in Arosa”
Interview with the Future: “The ‘I’ as a Part of Reality”